Luggage carrier



March 5, 1968 s. c SCHAEFFER 3,371,831

LUGGAGE CARRIER Filed Nov. 25, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet l YNVENTOR. STANLEYC. SCHAEFFER AT TORNEYS March 5, 1968 s. c. SCHAEFFER 3,371,831

LUGGAGE CARRIER Filed Nov. 25, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 v H 'Hu. I)? v .I

,5; 'lgifi 39 /8 ,2/ 1 w W 1% HM INVENTOR; STANLEY O: ScHAEFFERATTORNEYS' March 5, 1968 s. c. SCHAEFFER LUGGAGE CARRIER 5 Sheets-Sheet3 Filed Nov. 25, 1966 34 FIG. 5

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lllllllllllln INVENTOR STANLEY C: Sc-HAEFFER AT TOFENEYS United StatesPatent Ofiice 3,371,831 Patented Mar. 5, 1968 3,371,831 LUGGAGE CARRIERStanley C. Schaeffer, Box 144, Avoca, Minn. 56114 Filed Nov. 25, 1966,Ser. No. 597,051 6 Claims. (Cl. 22442.1)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The specification discloses a box-likeluggage carrier adapted to be attached in overlying relationship on therear deck of an automobile or the like and capable of being swungupwardly on a plurality of arms to allow access to the trunk.

This invention pertains specifically to a, luggage carrier forautomobiles and the like having a box-like housing shaped to fit on therear of an automobile in overlying relationship to the rear deck and theinclined rear portion of the roof and mounted thereon by a frame havinga plurality of arms, each having one end pivotally attached to the frameand the other end pivotally attached to the housing, to provide thehousing with two positions, one of which is the normal position whereinthe housing overlies the rear deck in juxtaposition thereto and theother of which is a second position in which the housing is swungupwardly to partially overlie the roof and allow access to the trunkbeneath the rear deck portion of the automobile.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improvedluggage carrier for automobiles and the like.

It is a further object of the present invention to pro vide a luggagecarrier for automobiles and the like which is attached to the automobileso as to cause a minimum wind resistance while the automobile is inmotion.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a luggagecarrier for automobiles and the like which is adapted to overlie therear portion of an automobile and may be swung upwardly to allow accessto the trunk located beneath the rear deck portion of the automobile.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a luggagecarrier for automobiles and the like having a compartment therein withan access opening covered by a watertight cover.-

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a luggagecarrier for automobiles and the like which is quickly and easilyattachable to an automobile, which provides easy access thereto andwhich is simple to operate and inexpensive to manufacture.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art upon consideration of the accompanying specification,claims, and drawings.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate like partsthroughout the figures:

FIGURE 1 is a view in side elevation of the present apparatus attachedto an automobile;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 with the apparatus rotatedupwardly to provide access to the trunk below the rear deck portion ofthe automobile;

FIGURE 3 is a view in perspective, looking from the rear thereof, of thepresent apparatus in the upper position;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional view as seen gen erally from the line44 in FIGURE 3, with the apparatus rotated downwardly to its normalposition;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged view in perspective of the frame work andattached arms with the housing removed therefrom;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged sectional view as seen from the line 6-6 inFIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged sectional view as seen from the line 7-7 inFIGURE 1.

In the figures the numeral It) generally designates an automobile havinga rear deck portion 11 with a trunk 8 thereunden The automobile 10 alsohas a roof 9 with a slanted portion 12 which is inclined downwardly tojoin the rear deck portion 11. A luggage carrier generally designated 13and comprised of an article supporting structure, which may be aplatform or a box-like structure such as housing 14, a frame 15, and aplurality of arms 16 through 1?, is mounted on the automobile 10 in amanner to be described presently.

The housing 14 has a lower wall 20 adapted to overlie the rear deckportion 11 of the housing 14, a rear wall 21, two side walls 22 and 23,a front wall 24 and an upper wall 25. The rear wall 21 is substantiallyperpendicular and the side walls 22 and 23 are slanted inwardly tofollow the curvature of the automobile 10 to prevent protrusions and theconsequent air resistance and unbalance of the automobile 10. The frontwall 24 of the housing 14 is formed to extend substantially parallel toand in juxtaposition to the inclined portion 12 of the roof 9 when thelower wall 20 is in overlying relationship with the rear deck portion11. The upper wall 25 has an opening therethrough for access into thechamber formed by the walls 20 through 25. The opening through the upperwall 25 is substantially rectangular and includes most of the upper wall25 for ease in packing luggage or the like within the housing 14. Theopening in the upper wall 25 has an upwardly extending lip 26 around theperiphery thereof. A cover 27, adapted to fit over the opening in theupper wall 25 has a downwardly extending lip 28 around the outer edgethereof and a resilient gasket 29 fixedly attached to the undersurfaceof the cover 27 adjacent the lip 28. The size of the cover 27 is suchthat the lip 26 around the opening in the upper wall 25 just slideswithin the lip 28 around the edges of the cover 27 and against thegasket 29 on the under surface thereof. Thus, the lips 26 and 28 and thegasket 29 cooperate to form a Water tight seal between the cover 27 andthe opening in the upper wall 25. The cover 27 may be attached to theremainder of the housing 14 in any desirable fashion, such as by the camacting clamps 30, hinges, etc. The cam acting clamps 30 illustrated inthe various views, are preferred because they draw the cover 27 tightlyonto the housing 14 and force the lip 26 into the gasket 29 to provide awater tight seal. The housing 14 also has a plurality of handles 31, twoof which are showing, for moving the housing 14 into various positionsonce it is attached to the automobile 10 and for handling the entireluggage carrier 13 when it is not attached to an automobile.

The frame 15 includes a pair of elongated rails 35 and 36 which, whenpositioned correctly on the automobile 10, extend longitudinally alongeither side of the rear deck portion 11 from the tail lights at theextreme rear thereof to approximately the inclined portion 12 of theroof 9. Each of the rails 35 and 36 is constructed of some relativelylight material such as wood, and has resilient padded material 37ai'fixed to the under side thereof to prevent damage to the finish ofthe automobile 10. Each of the rails 35 and 36 has a U-shaped hook atthe rear-most end thereof with some resilient padding on the innersurface which engages the frames of the tail lights to prevent verticalmovement of the rails 35 and 36. A cross piece 38 has either end aifixedto the rails 35 and 36 adjacent the front ends thereof and preventshorizontal movement of the rails 35 and 36. A belt 39, which may beconstructed of any suitable material such as webbing, leather, plastic,etc., is constructed in two pieces with a turn buckle 40 joining ends ofthe two pieces to provide means for lengthening or shortening the beltduring mounting of the luggage carrier 13. Each of the free ends of thebelt 39 have a hook 45 attached thereto for engaging the lower edge ofthe fenders on either side of the automobile to hold the luggage carrier13 fixedly attached thereto. In attaching the frame 15 to the rear deckportion 11 of the automobile 10, the turn buckle 40 is open to lengthenthe belt 39. The rails 35 and 36 are placed in position along eitheredge of the rear deck portion 11 with the U-shaped members engaged overthe tail light frames. The hooks 45 at the ends of the belt 39 areengaged over the lower edges of the rear fenders of the automobile 10,with the end portions of the belt 39 therebetween to protect the finish,as illustrated in FIG- URE 7. With the hooks 45 fixedly engaged over thelower edges of the fenders the turn buckle 40 is tightened until theentire frame 15 is fixedly held in position.

The two arms 16 and 19 each have one end pivotally attached toapproximately the center of the rails 35 and 36, respectively, by somemeans such as hinges 50. In the horizontal position the arms 16 and 19extend rearwardly to a point adjacent the rear wall 21 of the housing14. A cross piece 51 is adapted to be attached to the lower wall 20 ofthe housing 14 adjacent the rear wall 21 and the rear-most end of eachof the arms 16 and 19 is pivotally attached thereto by some means suchas hinges 52. One end of each of the arms 17 and 18 is pivotallyattached to the cross piece 38 by some means such as hinges 53. The arms17 and 18 extend rearwardly from the cross piece 38 parallel to andadjacent the rails and 36, respectively. The rear-most ends of each ofthe arms 17 and 18 are attached approximately centrally to the undersurface of the lower wall 20 of the housing 14 by some means such ashinges 54. Thus, the housing 14 is fixedly attached to the frame 15 bymeans of the arms 16 through 19 and may be rotated upwardly to theposition illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 4 for easy access to the trunk 8.When the arms 16 through 19 are folded downwardly in the horizontalposition, the housing 14 is positioned in overlying relationship to therear deck portion 11 of the automobile 10 and the front wall 24 isparallel with and in juxtaposition to the inclined portion 12 of theroof 9. In this position, which is the normal position for the housing14 during movement, the housing 14 forms substantially continuoussurfaces with the various surfaces of the automobile 10 so there arelittle or no protrusions to provide wind resistance and unbalance theautomobile 10. When the housing 14 is rotated upwardly into the secondposition, the trunk 8 can be opened to its full extent for easy accessthereto. In the second position the housing 14 is swung upwardly andforwardly on the arms 16 through 19 and partially overlies the roof 9. Aplurality of cam acting locks 60, two of which are shown, are providedalong either lower edge of the side walls 22 and 23 and engage catches61 aifixed to the outer edge of each of the rails 35 and 36 to fixedlylock the housing 14 in the normal position during travel.

The presently described luggage carrier 13 greatly improves over anyluggage carriers presently in use since it is substantially larger thanany roof top carriers of the like, and does not offer wind resistance orunbalance the automobile during travel. Also, the luggage carrier 13 islow enough to make access there into much easier than any roof topcarriers.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of thisinvention, further modifications and improvements will occur to thoseskilled in the art. I desire it to be understood, therefore, that thisinvention is not limited to the particular form shown and I intend inthe appended claims to cover all modifications which do not depart fromthe spirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A luggage carrier for automobiles and the like comprising:

(a) an article supporting structure adapted to receive luggage and thelike for storage, said structure being adapted to be positioned inoverlying relationship to the rear deck portion of an automobile;

(b) a frame removably attached in a fixed position relative to the reardeck portion of the automobile; and

(c) a plurality of arms each having one end pivotally attached to saidframe and the other end pivotally attached to said structure forallowing movement of said structure between a normal position overlyingthe rear deck portion and not projecting substantially above theautomobile roof line and a second raised position overlying at least aportion of the generally horizontal part of the roof of the automobile.

2. A luggage carrier for automobiles and the like as set forth in claim1 wherein the article supporting structure includes a housing whichsubstantially overlies the entire rear deck portion of the automobileand the rear inclined portion of the roof thereof.

3. A luggage carrier for automobiles and the like as set forth in claim2 wherein the plurality of arms are so disposed that the longitudinalaxis of the housing remains substantially horizontal throughout movementof the housing from the normal to the second position.

4. A luggage carrier for automobiles and the like as set forth in claim2 wherein the housing has an opening therein for access to thecompartment and a cover removably attached thereover in a substantiallywater tight relationship.

5. A luggage carrier for automobiles and the like as set forth in claim2 wherein the frame and the plurality of arms are constructed to provideaccess to the trunk below the rear deck portion of the automobile whenthe housing is moved to the second position.

6. A luggage carrier for automobiles and the like comprising:

(a) a housing having a generally box-like configuration with acompartment therein adapted to receive luggage and the like for storage,said housing having a lower wall adapted to substantially overlie therear deck portion of an automobile in a generally horizontalrelationship and a front wall adapted to lie substantially parallel withthe rear downwardly inclined portion of the roof of the automobile andin juxtaposition thereto;

(b) said housing further having an opening therein for access to thecompartment and a cover removable attached thereto in a substantiallywater tight relationship;

(c) a frame removably attached in a fixed position relative to the reardeck portion of the automobile; (d) a plurality of arms each having oneend pivotally attached to said frame and the other end pivotallyattached to said housing for allowing movement of said housing between anormal position overlying the rear deck portion and a second position atleast partially overlying the roof; and

(e) said frame and arms being further constructed to maintain the lowerwall of said housing generally horizontal as said housing i moved fromthe normal 6 to the second position and to allow access to the 3,191,8296/1965 Davis. trunk below the rear deck portion when said hous-3,228,575 1/1966 Peterson.

ing is in the second position. FOREIGN PATENTS References Cited 658,6182/1963 Canada.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,058,636 10/1962 Bilbeisi.

3,103,289 9/1963 Clary 214 450 R. J. SPAR, Asszstant Exammer.

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

